Procyse is my upcoming emcee of the year, most of y’all don’t know him yet, but he’s dope and nice with it. Last year he released a project with Fo Chief (of Fresh Breath Committee) that was nice and he held his own. Now here we are a couple months later and Procyse has dropped his debut project produced entirely by Stephen Herrera, who chances you also don’t know. This project is a greeting party for both of them and they both bring it. I present to you “Follow the Leader”.

The “intro” is where Cyse lets the listener know what this project is about, Cyse opens his soul to all of us on this project. Stephen Herrera brings a nice piano laced beat on the project that fits perfectly with the content of Cyse’s rhymes.

My favorite song on this project is “Losin’ Myself” the track features Griffin and Raging Moses. The track speaks of the struggle that we all go through in life and how life can take us off balance spiritually. At the end of the day though God is the way that we get through everything in life we struggle with.

After a real nice spoken word piece by The Ad3pt we get the lead single off the project “Rest of the Night”. This track hit me personally because at night at least for myself is when the battle on the inside happens. Cyse speaks on that battle, but once again speaks on the restoration that the Lord is willing to give us if we let him. Stephen Herrera brings an interesting beat for this track with samples of 8-bit sounds and an array of different sounds and transitions to the track.

The album rounds out with “Restore My Soul” which is Procyse’s testimony. He lets us into his past and his life before Christ. Lastly he fills us in on the work that Christ has been doing in his life. “Follow the Leader” is an amazing first step for both Cyse and Steve. The project comes with the instrumentals so you get the artistry on both sides. The project is free so there’s no reason you shouldn’t pick this up.

A couple weeks back I gave you guys the tracklisting for “Follow the Leader” which is a solo record by Procyse of Soulfficial produced entirely by Stephen Herrera. Well today the duo released their single “Rest of the Night” (one of my favorite joints off the record). It comes with the song and the instrumental. Apparently the record will come with both instrumentals and acapellas too!

Procyse of Soulfficial is finally releasing his first solo album “Follow The Leader” and this project is produced entirely by Stephen Herrera and let me tell you he’s fresh on the beats so I definitely suggest you pick up this project when it comes out 2/21/12. Here’s the tracklisting which has me even more amped for the release.

Imperial was signed to Illect a while back and now we get his debut single “Raw” coming in a few weeks. The joint features, Sivion, muzeOne, sintax.the.terrific and JustMe, I also have no idea when Imperial’s album is coming out, but you should peep this single, I’ve heard beats from this dude and he’s nice with it!

Now this single was actually released early and you could listen to it if you pre-ordered The Battery’s “One”. Jaq is the newest member of Scribbling Idiots and he actually has a lot of production under his belt with the group. This time around Jaq teams up with JustMe for his single “Holster”. Jaq is working on his solo album “Escape From Radio Prison” and I have no idea when it comes out but keep it locked here and I’ll keep ya filled in.

You’ve seen DJ Ishine on here before well this time he has a real nice project coming out soon I’ll let the trailer speak for itself. Keep it tuned here for more.

Brief Description: “Coming from the Washington DC/NOVA, DJ iShine’s debut album “Suite 11 The Registration” is due out this year. For now check out his trailer produced by Swag 100 Entertainment (@wtf_is_swag100) which will give you a good vision and impression of what to expect from this upcoming album. More information on the album coming soon.” – 1SIDE Music Entertainment

Research is one of the most criminally slept on emcees not just in hip hop but the Christian hip hop world also. The emcee is part of three crews, ShadowFacts, Vision1 and drop.sci.GIANTS yet ya’ll are still sleeping on him! In 2008 he released “Identity Theft” which was Part I in a two part series (it could be three I’m not sure). And Research said that “Identity Theft” was the darker album and this project “Cerca Trova” was on the lighter side. Let’s see if the “light” side was as good as “dark” side was.

The album “Cerca Trova” starts off with “I Am” which I think is the perfect introduction to this album. In my eyes this intro track was almost like a response to the darkness and problems that Research faced in “Identity Theft” making claims of triumph over these worldly problems that we’re faced with every single day. This track sets up the album nicely.

“Another Day” I believe is the statement track on the record, it’s the track that summarizes what this album is about. Enjoy the little things in life, be thankful that you woke up to see another day. I keep going back to this but to me this track was the opposite of “Weary” from “Identity Theft”. “Weary” was really the low (sad) point on the album, Research expresses the hurt and exhaustion from said hurt in that song. In “Another Day” he’s overcoming it by remembering God’s grace and motivation to effect the world around him.

With “Cerca Trova” we get more just straight rap tracks “We Do” is the perfect example. I have no idea who made the beat but Research and his Vision1 partner in crime Details straight body this beat and I repeated this track a couple times. Another track that does the same thing is “Rock The Spot” which features the drop.sci.GIANTS crew and all of them rip the track. Which makes me wonder when the group is going to drop another project!

“Crying Angels” was one of my favorite tracks on this album and it covers a multitude of topics in just one track. Research speaks on the impact of one life, in our society, in this world there are billions of people and I think we take the fact that there are so many lives for granted. It just takes one person to make a change in this world. Research tells stories of those who lost their lives and what was lost with that life. In the first verse he speaks on a girl who lost her life who was meant to become the first female president. In another story a person dies who was supposed to find the cure to cancer but all those endeavors were lost along with the life. This is a very powerful song with a strong message.

As the project starts to come to a close “By My Side” is an anthem dedicated to all the people in his life that stayed by his side through the thick and the thin. The first verse is dedicated to Details the other half of Vision1, the second verse is to his wife and the last is for everyone else. It’s definitely nice to see the emcee give credit to everyone who’s helped him on this journey.

“Cerca Trova” is a great project and definitely worth picking up, if you listened to “Identity Theft” you’ll enjoy the contrast on this album and probably make the same connections that I did while listening. This album is one that gives hope in a world that is filled with darkness, feeling down definitely pop in this album. It’s a positive, uplifting album with a little bit of “Identity Theft” sound and content sprinkled in and it balances the record out perfectly. Go buy “Cerca Trova” now.